その後～Later History – ページ 34 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

2.Goryokaku Part3

If the Benten Cape Battery remained…

Features

Goryokaku Tower

Apart from the ruins themselves, you should consider visiting Goryokaku Tower, a 107m tall observation platform built exclusively for viewing Goryokaku. Goryokaku was designed flat to prevent enemies’ canons from targeting anything, so today’s visitors might not be able to grasp its shape. If you go up in the elevator of the tower to its observation room at 90m high, you will enjoy a great view of the star shaped fort.

The miniature model of Goryokaku, exhibited in the tower

A view of Goryokaku from the observation room

Hakodate Mountain and the city area can also be seen from the observation room

Ruins of Square Style Fort

Another attraction related to Goryokaku is the ruins of Shiryokaku, the Square Style Fort, about 5km away from Goryokaku in the northeast. It is much smaller than Goryokaku, so you can see its unique structure once you arrive at the ruins.

The aerial photo around the castle

The entrance of the Square Style Fort Ruins

You can see the square shape when standing at the edge

Later History

After the Battle of Hakodate ended, almost all the buildings of Goryokaku were demolished. The Imperial Japanese Army owned the ruins to use as a parade ground during the Meiji Era. In addition, the water in the moats was used to make ice blocks called Hakodate Ice between 1870 and 1953. This was because the water had been led from Kameda River and was clean since the foundation of Goryokaku. In 1913 during the Taisho Era, Hakodate City asked the Minister of the Army to open the ruins as a park, which was accepted in the next year.

The water moat was used to make ice blocks

Looking outside from the edge of a bastion

My Impression

I regret that there are no ruins of the Benten Cape Battery at all. It was completely scrapped and its stone materials were reused for the improvement of Hakodate Port in 1899. Only the signpost stands now where the battery was. If only a little of it remained like Shinagawa Batteries in Tokyo Bay, people could easily understand the sharing of roles between it and Goryokaku. Anyway, I hope Goryokaku will keep its unique position in the Japanese history with its unique style among Japanese castles.

The monument of the improvement of Hakodate Port

The stone materials from the Benten Cape Battery must hove been used somewhere in the port

How to get There

If you want to visit the ruins by car, It is about a 20-minute drive away from Hakodate Airport or the center of Hakodate City. From Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, it takes about 40 minutes to get there. There is a parking lot for visitors beside the park.
If you want to use public transportation, you can take the Tram Hakodate bound for Yunokawa from Hakodate Station and get off at the Goryokaku-koen-mae stop. It takes about 15 minutes on foot from the stop to get there.
To get to Hakodate Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the Hokkaido Shinkansen super express at Tokyo Station and transfer to the Hakodate Line at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station.

Links and References

・Official Website of Goryokaku Tower

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Goryokaku Part1”
Back to “Goryokaku Part2”

2.五稜郭　その３

弁天岬台場が残っていたとしたら・・

特徴、見どころ

五稜郭タワー

城跡そのものとは別に、五稜郭タワーにも登っていただきたいです。このタワーは高さ１０７ｍの、ほぼ五稜郭を専門に眺めるための展望台です（もちろん函館山や函館市街地もよく見えます）。五稜郭は大砲からの標的になるのを防ぐため、平面的にデザインされていて、今日のビジターからするとその形をはっきりとつかめないかもしれません。よって、エレベーターで９０ｍの高さの展望台に登っていただくと、星形の城の形が素晴らしい景色として目に入ってきます。

四稜郭跡

五稜郭に関係するもう一つの見どころは、五稜郭の北東約５ｋｍのところにある四稜郭跡です（五稜郭の鬼門（北東）を守護する東照宮を防衛するために築かれたとも言われています）。五稜郭よりはずっと小さいですので、そこに着いてみればそのユニークな形が見て取れると思います。

四稜郭周辺の航空写真

その後

函館戦争が終わった後、五稜郭のほとんどの建物は撤去されました。明治時代の間は、帝国陸軍が演習場として城跡を所有していました。また、堀の水は製氷のために使われ、そこで作られた氷は「函館氷」として1870年から1953年まで販売されていました。堀の水は五稜郭設立のときから亀田川から引かれていて、清涼だったからです。大正時代の1913年には函館市が陸軍省に城跡を公園として開放するよう要請し、その翌年に五稜郭公園として実現しました。

私の感想

五稜郭とその関連の歴史を振り返ってみると、つくづく弁天岬台場の痕跡が全く残っていないのが惜しまれます。台場は完全に解体され、その石材は1899年の函館港の改修資材として再利用されました。その場所には、かつてそこに台場があったことを示す標柱が立っているだけです。東京湾の品川台場のように、もし少しでもその遺跡が残っていたとしたら、台場と五稜郭の役割分担が今の人々にもよく理解できたのではないかと思います。いずれにせよ、五稜郭が日本の城の中でも独特なスタイルを持っていることにより、日本の歴史の中でユニークな存在として記憶され続けてほしいです。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：函館空港または函館市の中心部から約２０分のところです。新函館北斗駅からは４０分くらいはかかるでしょう。公園に駐車場が隣接しています。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、函館駅から湯の川行きの函館市電に乗り、五稜郭公園前駅で降りてください。そこから歩いて１５分くらいで現地に着きます。
東京または大阪から函館駅まで：東京駅で北海道新幹線に乗り、新函館北斗駅駅で函館本線に乗り換えてください。

リンク、参考情報

・五稜郭公園　国指定特別史跡「五稜郭跡」、函館市住宅都市施設公社
・函館・五稜郭タワー
・「よみがえる日本の城９」学研
・「日本の城改訂版第４号」デアゴスティーニジャパン
・「歴史群像５６号、日本初の稜堡式要塞　函館五稜郭」学研
・「幕末維新の城／一坂太郎著」中公新書
・「函館市史」デジタル版

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。
「五稜郭その１」に戻ります。
「五稜郭その２」に戻ります。

102.Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part3

These ruins deserve a long journey to visit.

Features

Main Gate as Pivot of Defense

You will finally reach the front of the main portion, the Main Gate Ruins. If you go out of the ruins, you can see how well the gate was protected. There is another enclosure in front it, divided by a long and deep dry moat. The moat has double ditches and you need to go across them on a small bridge and a large one. These bridges are zigzagged so that enemies would sometimes be stuck when they attacked the hall. There are thick and high earthen walls with restored wooden fences around the gate ruins, where you can imagine defenders could counterattack with arrows.

The two bridges were built being zigzagged

The restored wooden fences on the earthen walls around the gate

Around the Main Gate of the Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date miniature model, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

Later History

Kaminoyama-Katsuyama Date Ruins were the place of ancestor worship for the Matsumae Domain during the Edo Period. As castle ruins, they were designated as a National Historic Site in 1977, considered one of the “Kaminokuni Hall Ruins” including Hanazawa Tate, one of the Dounan 12 Halls. After that, they have been excavated and researched since 1979. That’s why the new discoveries about the mainland and Ainu people were found.

the *miniature model* of Kaminokuni-Katsuyama-Date, exhibited by the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

My Impression

I think Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date deserves not only a hall, but definitely a castle or a medieval city, too. That was the destination of the halls which the mainland people going to Ezo built. That also created a unique way of life where the mainland and Ainu people lived together. I recommend visiting the ruins even though it may take a long time for you to get there.

The Iouzan Tombs seen from the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

How to get There

I recommend using a car when you visit the castle ruins because there are only a few buses available.
It is about 70km drive away from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station. From Hakodate Airport or the center of Hakodate City, it takes about 90km to get there. You can use the parking lot beside the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility. It may be a good idea to rent a car at the station or the airport.
To get to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station from Tokyo: Take the Hokkaido Shinkansen super express at Tokyo Station.

The parking lot beside the Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility

Links and References

・Katsuyama Castle Guidance Facility, Kaminoyama Town

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part1”
Back to “Kaminokuni-Katsuyama Date Part2”